Akis daza:n dA:r tI b'a:kh
chus vushIna:v:n athI
One man’s beard is on fire, and another man warms his hands on it.
To take advantage of someone’s misery.

Ach ongji Thukni

To strike the eyes with fingers.

To tease someone.

Ach peTh nI mAch zIrna:vIn’

Not to bear a fly on someone’s eye.

To take good care of someone.

Ach vatshI tI ga:shI rusI

May your eyes be opened but see nothing (A curse).
To turn a blind eye to something.

Achan paci ph'ur gatshun

To turn one’s eyes away from someone.

To forget someone’s help.

AD' la:r AD' da:r

Half at Lar and half at Dar.

Unmanageably scattered property or assets.
Scattered relations.

Ati: sha:h tI Ati: gada:h

A king for a moment, and a beggar soon after
One’s fortune can change very fast.

Ath’ ba:nas kh’on tI Ath’ ba:nas charun
To eat out of a vessel and then defile it.
To receive someone’s hospitality and then slander him.

AdIr zAT h’uh aga:di gatshun

To stick (to something) like a wet cloth.
To be very adamant. To keep on insisting.

To pester someone.

An' sInz klay khda:yas hava:iI

A blind man’s wife is God’s keeping.

Anim sy, vAvIm sy, iAjim
sy pa:nIsIy
I brought the nettle, sowed the nettle, and then the nettle stung me.
To be affected by one’s own deeds.

Ingratitude.

Anis mush ha:vin', na chu
gna:h tI na sava:b
To show one’s fist to a blind man is neither a sin nor a virtue.
Advice is lost on stupid people.

Andraman grand karIn’

To count (someone’s) intestines.

To know all secrets about someone.

Ar’ a:yi sA:ri: tI or gav nI ka:~h
All people came (were born) in good health, but none left (died) healthy.

A:b panun ma:sho:kh

A man loves his own shortcomings.

A:shina:v gav po:shina:v

A relative remains a relative, as long as relations are maintained.
You should not take relatives for granted.

aki kanI bo:zun tI beyi kanI tra:vun
To let it in by one ear, and let it out from the other.
To hear but not to act.

akh asun gav madI vasun, b’a:kh asun gav kharas khasun
One kind of laugh is to come down from high horse and another to get on an ass.

akh kara:n tachI bachI, b’a:kh diva:n vachI vachI
One person earns his living after working very hard, and another beats his chest
(out of envy).
A person does not appreciate the efforts of others, when he is (merely) jealous.

akh gav be:chun beyi hAs’tis khAsith
One is to beg, and that too riding on an elephant.
To ask for alms and also to maintain status.
Trying to be a dignified beggar.

akh go:mut yi:rI tI vi:ri manga:n Tang
A drowning man asks for pears from the willow tree.
A confused person. One who doesn’t know what is good for him.

akh tI akh gAyi ka:h

One plus one make eleven.

In unity there is strength. Two heads are better than one.

akh buDI tI meThI, b’a:kh buDI tI TeThI
One man is old and sweet, another is old and bitter.
Some people age gracefully others go sour.

akh vakur tI beyi trakur

First, one is deformed, and second, proud too.
One problem over the other.

A pimple has grown on the ulcer.

azmo:vmut gav pathar po:vmut

A person who has been tried is (as good as) prostrated (won over).

athI tshoT tI zevi z’u:Th

With short hands and long tongue.

One who merely talks, but doesn’t really work.

athIva:s chu mohrI sa:s

Unity is equal to a thousand golden coins.

an mana: kar phana: rachun
chuy boD gna:
Bring a mound and finish it. It is a great sin to save.
A spendthrift. One who does not think about tomorrow. Eat, drink and be merry
for tomorrow you may die.

anIhA:ren arIma:n, kAr’mit’ pashe:ma:n
The bachelors crave to get married, and the married ones regret why they got
married.
Marry in haste and repent at leisure.

apzis koTh’ kati.

The lie doen’t have knees to stand on.
A lie doesn’t have a foot to stand on.
A lie doesn’t last for long.

alIkulis tulIkul bana:vun

To make a mulberry tree out of a pumpkin plant.
To make a mountain out of a mole hill.

alan hIndi da:di va:~gnan sag
When pumpkins are watered, brinjals also get watered.
Some small people are often benefited when the benefit is given to the big ones.

asma:nas sI:th’ buz’ buz’ ga:DI kheni
To roast fish on sky and to eat them.
To talk big.
To think too much of oneself.

a:gI kara:n ne:thIr tI parzun nI ma:na:n
The master gets married, but the servant does not accept it.
How does it matter if reality is ignored?

a:bas andar krAnD

A basket in water.

To thrive under patronage.

a:men Ta:ken ti:l phe:run

To pour oil in raw clay pots.

To waste one’s efforts on a naive person.

a:rIm’ kAd nI muj, tI pheki:ran do:rus halam
The gardener had not yet dug out the radish, when the beggar held the
alms-bowl in front of him.

To ask for the chicken before it is hatched.

a:li ditso:n ta:li ga'v, zvi korun l’av tI l’av
Ali greased her head with ghee, but the lice licked it up.
Money in the hands of a spendthrift.

a:v tI snIsund tI gav tI ga:suv
If it comes, it is golden; if it doesn’t, it was made of grass.
Welcome an opportunity as it comes, call it a trifle if it doesn’t.
Neutral attitude.

khamithe: gur tI khama:n cha gunI
It could be genuine for horses to complaint, but (instead of horses) complaints
are made by the load sacks (or saddle bags).

khar k’a: za:ni za:phra:nIc kadIr?
An ass does not know the importance of saffron.
A stupid person does not know the importance of quality.

kharas go:r a:prun

To feed jaggery to an ass.

To give advice to a stupid person.

kha:nImA:lis nI ko:j tI parzanan mimuz
No breakfast for the dear one, but a luncheon for the strangers.

khenI kheva:n tI venI DA:l’ DA:l’
Someone is eating his meals, as though picking vena (a kind of green) plant.
Eating but pretending as if one doesn’t want to eat.
Mannerisms in eating to show off.

khenI manz vkus

Unnecessary conflict while eating.

An unnecessary quarrel in the family.

khemas kha:r tI ho:ras nI ha:r
I will usurp his kharwar and will not pay him a penny.
A selfish person.

khjI b’u:Th va:n tI lejav sa:n
The Khwaja (shopkeeper) opened a shop alongwith all his pots (which are empty).

khda:yi sInz khAr tI nA:ydI sInz tsheph
God has given the scab, and the barber causes a wound (in it).
One misery followed by another.

Calamity followed by catastrophe.

Misfortunes never come alone.

khran nI khra:v tI padma:n na:vI
Not even wooden shoes to wear for her feet, yet she is called Padmini (a queen).

gagra:yan chunI ru:d

The thundering does not cause rain.

Barking dogs seldom bite.

Empty vessels make much noise.

gabi buthi ra:mI hu:n

A sheep in appearance, but a wolf at heart.
A wolf in sheep’s clothing.

garI vanday garI sa:sa:, barI nebar ne:ray nI za:~h
O home, I would sacrifice a thousand houses on you, and would never step out of
the door.
No place like home.

East or west, home is the best.

garas manz ganga:

Ganges in one’s own home.

Everything available at home.

gari gaTi tI mAshi:di tso:~g

Darkness in the home, but a light in the mosque.
Darkness in the hearth and light in the church.

gari ti ha:kh, pari ti ha:kh, na:khay zuva: gari: dra:kh
The same swede (a green vegetable) in my home, the same in another’s house. O
myself, you should have not come out of your own house.
When one doesn’t get better food at other’s place.

gursas mA:l, tsoD heth patI kani
One wants to have buttermilk, but has hidden the pot (which has been brought for
it) behind one’s back.

A person who wants to have something, but is feeling shy in asking for it.

gu:r’ gari cha: votsh ra:va:n?

Is a calf ever lost in a milk vendors’ house?

gDI gav pa:nas, patI gA:r za:nas
First for self, then for the stranger.

The members of the family are in distress, but the idols are worshipped.
To ignore one’s family and to worship stone idols.

baji kani talIy cha lkIT kAn’ vepa:n
A small stone can be hidden under a big one.

baTas tseD, musalma:nas yaD,
tI rA:phizas hD
Endurance to the Hindu, stomach to the Muslim and cry to a Shia.
A Hindu endures, a Muslim fills the belly and a Shia mourns or resists.

batI gardan gAyi bAD gardan.

The path to heart lies through one’s stomach.

batI natI bata:s, chiTh naTI atla:s
A poor man with rich dsesires.

If wishes were horses beggars would ride.

bandI chu bashar

To err is human.

bandIy chu be:sabar

A human being is quite impatient.

babI buDtam tI khIdmatha: kartam
O father, grow old and serve me.

When youngsters expect their elders to serve them.

bi:mI ros shur gav la:kmi ros gur
The child who is not afraid of anyone is like a horse without a bridle.
Spare the rod and spoil the child.

beka:ras chi tre ka:r

An idle person has three tasks: sleeping, eating and quarreling.

beyi sund do:d chuy be:ma:ne:

yas Akis bAnith a:v suy za:ne:

Another person’s pain is meaningless. He only knows who suffers.
Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches.

boch gatshi nI n’un va:zIva:n, tI non gatshi nI n’un baza:zi va:n
The hungry should not be taken to a feast, and a naked person should not be
taken to a cloth shop.

It is difficult to control desire of someone who is in great need.

bro:r vuchith gatshi bishtI pho:run
On seeing a cat, one should be able to utter bishtI (for driving it away).
One must be courageous enough to show displeasure in presence of the person
concerned, and not in his absence.

mA:j kara:n "ku:r’ ku:r’", ku:r kara:n "rA:ni rA:ni"
The mother keeps on caring for her daughter, while the daughter keeps on craving
for her husdand.

"mA:j vohva:n chumnI ka:~h."

"potrI vati peTh beh."

"O mother, no one abuses me."

"Go and sit on the roadside."

Ask for problems and you will get them.

matev An' nsh s ti dra:yi mAtsIy
The family of madmen brought a daughter-in-law, she also turned out to be mad.
Birds of the same feather flock together.

manTini leji pa:~zuv

To cook six pounds in a pot which has capacity for three pounds only.
Mismanagement.

mandn’an sha:m gatshun

To turn the afternoon into an evening.

To be caught in a complex problem.

A hard blow.

ma:ji nI lakcI, tI se:ta:ras gila:ph
The mother hasn’t a piece of cloth to put on, but the sitar has a covering.
Inappropriate expenditure.

ma:ji hund nI bo:y, ko:ri hund ma:m
If one is not mother’s brother, how can he be the daughter’s (maternal) uncle?
Relations are to be maintained and not just imposed.
Strained relations.

ma:li muphut tI dili be:rAham

Property by gift and a heart without mercy.
One does not value items received free or in gift.

muphtuk shara:b chu ka:zev co:mut
The free liquor has been taken even by religious judges.
Free things, good or bad, are accepted by all.

yakur mA:rith athan phakh

After killing a yakur (a kind of bird), hands will stink.
A bad deed leaves a bad taste.

yath lachas ti carsIy

Let us have hashish for this Lakh as well.
A spendthrift does not have a second thought while spending money.